Auschwitz guard sacked over sign theft

The security guard in charge when the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign was stolen from the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz has been dismissed, a report said.

"We found that the fault was human error. The head of the security team on service at the time of the incident has been dismissed," said Auschwitz museum spokesman Jaroslaw Mensfelt, according to the PAP news agency.

"The guard waited too long before alerting the commander in chief of the security service and the police," the spokesman said.

Two other security guards who were suspended after the theft have returned to work, he added.

The sign - which means "Work Will Set You Free" in German - was stolen on December 18.

Two days later it was recovered in northern Poland by police who arrested five Polish men.

A Swedish former neo-Nazi has also been indicted in connection with the theft.

The sign above Auschwitz's gateway has long symbolised the horror of the camp where some 1.1 million people, mostly European Jews, fell victim to the Nazi Holocaust.

The Nazis created the camp in occupied Poland in 1940. It was in operation until Soviet troops liberated it in 1945.